For sheer beauty and elegance, few zoo birds rival the wattled cranes in the African Journey. You’d never guess that these seemingly peaceful birds have an aggressive streak.

“They will jab at you with their beak,” says Amber Eagleson, who manages the African Journey. “And there is some serious power in those legs – they will kick right at you.”

Wattled cranes stand four to five feet tall and are native to wetlands throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Our birds, Betty and Hannibal, are an established pair who produced their first clutch of eggs last year. Unfortunately, both eggs were crushed, probably by the cranes themselves as they moved around in their nest – not uncommon in first-time parents.

Because of the potential for injury, zoo keepers always work in pairs when entering the cranes’ marshy enclosure, which sits along the boardwalk near the African Journey’s exit. They also wear goggles for eye protection, and carry a broom to fend off the birds if they get aggressive.

Another tool used to manage the cranes is training. “The cranes are trained to station on a target,” like a colored board on a stick, Eagleson explains. “By rewarding them when they touch their beak to the target, we can move them to a different area of the exhibit.” This allows keepers to keep the cranes’ attention when crews are performing maintenance in the exhibit, for example. “It also allows us to see the birds up close and inspect their body condition,” Eagleson says. The cranes are rewarded for their participation with pinky mice.

Wattled crane populations are shrinking in Africa, due to destruction and alteration of wetlands.

Click on the photos below to view them full screen.

Viewing Tip:

Betty and Hannibal reinforce their pair bond with unison calls – loud, shrill honks that are made with heads tilted back. They also perform an elaborate mating dance, jumping up and down with wings flapping while moving back and forth. “I see this nearly every day,” Eagleson says. Also, watch for nest-building activity this fall – eggs are usually laid in late August or early September in a huge grassy nest.

Zoo keeper Kate Jedele uses a broom to maintain a safe distance between herself and Hannibal the wattled crane.

The cranes are trained to touch their beaks to a target. This allows zoo keepers to safely view the cranes up close and move them to a specific location within the exhibit if needed.

As a reward for touching the target, Hannibal gets a treat of pinky mice.

“We start by placing his wooden crate right next to his exhibit,” explains zoo keeper Dave Messmann. A small hole in the exhibit wall lines up perfectly with the hole in the crate, and Bo can’t resist the dark hiding spot. He slithers into the crate almost right away. “Snakes are naturally drawn to dark hiding places,” says Messmann.

With Bo safely in the crate, Messmann and zoo keeper Tim Jedele take the opportunity to completely clean and sanitize the snake’s exhibit. “Bo is a very active snake, and he knocks over the artificial plants all the time,” says Messmann.

Once the exhibit is cleaned, Messmann and Jedele weigh the snake – crate and all – on a portable scale. After subtracting the weight of the empty crate, Messmann calculates that Bo weighs at about 65 pounds – a gain of ten pounds since the snake was last weighed in April, after he arrived from the Children’s Zoo in Saginaw, Michigan.

It’s tough to measure the length of a large snake, but Messmann decides to give it a try when Bo is released back into the exhibit. After a little coaxing, Bo leaves his hiding place and enters the just-cleaned exhibit, conveniently sliding along the window where Messmann has placed a tape measure. “The tail tip is out!” Jedele calls, and Messmann checks the placement of Bo’s nose against the tape: Fifteen feet, six inches – a gain of about nine inches since Bo arrived.

Bo gets busy checking out (and messing up) most of the work that Jedele and Messmann did that morning in his exhibit. But it’s Bo’s busy lifestyle that has made him a real crowd-pleaser. “He likes to climb up the glass and look right at you,” Messmann says. “It kind of takes people by surprise.”

Messmann is pleased with Bo’s weight gain and growth. “He is an awesome snake,” Messmann says. “It’s great to see zoo guests enjoying and learning about him.”

“Indah is especially interested in people,” says Dunbar. “If you visit first thing in the morning, she’ll follow kids from window to window.” Bugara is the more laid-back of the two cats. “He is not as focused as his sister,” Dunbar says. “His attention span is pretty short!”

Bugara is the larger of the two cats, weighing 254 pounds. Indah weighs 204 pounds. Aside from the size difference, it’s easy to tell the two cats apart because the tip of Bugara’s left ear is missing. On Indah, look for the three black stripes above each eye that look like oversized “eyelashes.”

Because their mother did not properly care for them, Indah and Bugara were hand-reared by Cameron Park Zoo staff, which is partly why they are so interested in people. Hand-reared cats are typically not good candidates for breeding, so Bugara has been neutered. This allows us to exhibit the cats together even after they reach breeding age.

Sumatran tigers are critically endangered on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which is their only wild home. Their native forests are being destroyed to build unsustainable palm oil plantations.

YOU CAN HELP! Because palm oil is in thousands of everyday products, it’s hard to avoid, but you can support companies that buy only sustainably-grown palm oil. Download a free app to help you make eco-friendly shopping choices that help tigers, orangutans, and other rain forest animals.

With the spotlight on Tara, our new orangutan, we’re sharing some orangutan insights this week!

1. Orangutans are lazyIt’s true – even wild orangutans sleep late and take lots of naps. Because they are so intelligent, they know exactly which trees are fruiting. They’ll go directly to the food source, eat, then rest. No need to wander the forest all day searching for a meal!

2. Orangutans make their bedsIn the wild, orangutans arrange leaves and branches to make a comfy nest. Check out this video of Tengku, our male orangutan, making a nest out of blankets and shredded paper.

3. Orangutans are tree-dwellersWild orangutans rarely descend to the ground, and the same is true at the zoo. The artificial trees and vines in Orangutan Valley allow our orangutans to move just as they would in the forest. Tengku shows how it’s done in the video below.

4. Orangutans use umbrellasIn the rain forest, orangutans hold big leaves above their heads when it rains. At the zoo, our orangutans put blankets, hats, and paper bags on their heads.

5. Orangutans aren’t monkeysAlong with gorillas, chimpanzees, and gibbons, orangutans belong to the group of primates called apes. Apes have bigger brains and are generally larger than monkeys. The easiest way to tell them apart: monkeys have tails, apes don’t.

6. Orangutans need our helpFound only on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, orangutans are in trouble. Sumatran orangutan populations have declined up to 80% since the 1950s, mainly because their habitat is being destroyed. You can help by shopping responsibly for products that contain palm oil, which is grown in Sumatra and is found in many everyday products. Get a free mobile app to help with your shopping choices.

Tara, the Sumatran orangutan who arrived at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo this spring, is ready to meet the public. She will be in the orangutan exhibit now through Sunday.

“Tara is amazing,” says zoo keeper Angie Selzer, who cares for the orangutans. “She has adapted very well to her new home.”

Tara has not yet been mixed with Tengku, the zoo’s 28-year-old male orangutan, or Melati, a 28-year-old female, so she will be alone in the exhibit through the weekend. “We want Tara to become completely comfortable in the exhibit before being mixed with the other orangutans,” Selzer said. So far, the three orangutans have had limited contact with each other through mesh panels behind the scenes.

“Our next step is to allow Tara to meet Melati face to face,” Selzer says. That encounter will probably happen in the next few weeks behind the scenes, meaning that there could be days when no orangutans are in the exhibit. After Tara and Melati get to know each other, Tengku will join them.

Tara, age 18, has a habit of climbing up to the skylights in the orangutan exhibit, so zoo guests will have to look carefully to see the petite red ape this weekend.

Tara arrived in Fort Wayne in April from the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo. She can be distinguished from the other orangutans by her petite build and darker fur on her face, hands, and feet.

The zoo hopes that Tara and Tengku will someday produce offspring, but it is too early to predict when that might happen.

Sumatran orangutans are a critically endangered species and are managed in zoos by a Species Survival Plan (SSP), which seeks to maintain genetic diversity in the captive population. These rare apes are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where their future is threatened by persistent habitat destruction as forests are converted to palm oil plantations, timber concessions, and mining operations. Zoos could prove to be the last stronghold for this species, which some experts predict could become functionally extinct in the wild within 10 to 20 years.

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